Credit card trap begins in college

It seems to be a rite of college these days to walk across campus and be inundated with credit card offers. Companies shamelessly offer everything from free T-shirts and water bottles to sandwiches and pizzas to entice college students to fill out a credit card application.

U.S. PIRG has been working on campuses across the country to counter such aggressive marketing schemes. The group recently released a survey of 1,500 students at 40 campuses. It found that:

… students are using credit cards in significant numbers and that a significant number are paying the price through late fees, high balances and delinquencies. The findings also show that banks are marketing aggressively to students through a variety of channels.

It doesn’t help when alumni associations at some universities strike deals with banks to offer credit cards to students, as the Des Moines Register reported in this story. Following that report, U.S. PIRG has posted documents showing the relationships between the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and their alumni associations for exclusive on-campus marketing arrangements with Bank of America.

Shop around for the best deal, try to pay balances in full, use your credit card sparingly and try to make your payments as early as possible. Click here for more tips on how to handle credit cards.